Hi All
My sister is seriously considering having her dog castrated.  He's a labrador just turned one year old.  His behaviour is changing, age I'd say and the fact she's allowed him to do as he's pleased so far, and go where he chooses in the home without any boundaries.  Now he's beginning to challenge her when she wants him off the furniture, down the stairs  etc...  He's also started to bark at everyone he passes when out on walks and other dogs seem to be attacking him, again I presume this is more a coming of age thing (he's submissive and still very playful with other dogs)

After having my dog castrated 3 years ago, believing it would stop him peeing up my white goods, and quieten his general boisterous behaviour I realise it didn't make a blind bit of difference!  He stopped peeing up the tumble dryer but I doubt it was anything to do with him losing his bits and peices.  He still tries to hump my bitch when she's in season, although he never quite gets close enough to actually do anything, he humps towards her all the same. He's still a very dominant dog, very territorial and the certain boss over my bitch and her puppy.
Does it really make any difference?......and if so what are the true benefits?....except for the obvious, no puppies.

It'll be costing around £100 for this operation and I'm concerned it's more a training issue than a hormonal one.......

She's having doubts and asking for my oppinion....I'd be tempted to tell her to keep hold of her money and take a firmer approach with training....what do you all think?
Thanks in advance

I would go with the training even if he is castrated it sounds like he will need to be trained aswell afterwards so I would start with it and see how it goes.

Think about human males: amenable (if properly brought up) little boys become stoppy, hormonal teenagers who (eventually) grow up to be rational adult(ish) men. All without the need for surgery! Dogs are the same.

> grow up to be rational adult(ish) men. All without the need for surgery

Aaah - sigh - you are so naive, JG :D :D :D :D

Daisy

I did say 'eventually' and 'ish'! ;) :D

How long are you planning living ?????? :D :D :D

Daisy

Sounds like training to me! I have two here that are castrated and one that isn't and isn't going to be unless there is a health reason why it needs to be done. I don't think I will ever have another dog castrated. The question your sister should be asking is, is she doing it for his benefit or hers? Personally I can see no benefit to the dog in the scenario you describe. :-(

This may be of interest,  about the behavioural effects of canine castration: it's written by a behaviourist.

<a class='url' href='http://www.gsdhelpline.com/castration.htm'>http://www.gsdhelpline.com/castration.htm</a>

Hi Wellybob
We agonised over this one too, when Jim reached adolescence & started to hump every bitch & dog in sight. He's completely unaggressive, but the concern was that he'd eventually annoy the wrong dog & get mullered for his trouble. He's a big lad, & the advice we were given, by our VERY experienced behavioural/training guys, was "he will eventually get beaten up for this behaviour. That will frighten him. That means that the next time ... or the time after that ... he will get in first bite & hey presto - you've got an aggressive dog". It was explained that this was NOT a prediction or a maybe - but 100% eventual certainty.

We paid approx £70 for the Op.
Pre-Op, he was also paying (even!) less attention to our hopeless recall attempts.
The advice from our lovely breeder was: "whatever you decide, CASTRATION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR TRAINING".

You sound a little concered about your sister's training focus, so perhaps your advice to her could concentrate on that, rather than "should she, shouldn't she".
Jim is 19 months now & - coupled with a LOT of hard work - his behaviour & obedience is astonishingly improved. We felt horrible seeing him wibble about after the anaesthetic, but hell ... who wants accidental puppies, or a straying lothario?
He's an attention-hound anyway, & now he seems to be even more in demand as a playmate by both dogs & bitches so he's happy!
Best of luck with your sister, I hope she decides that training is the only way forward, no matter what she decides.

If you want to experiment to see if castration would help, you could ask the vet for a temporary chemical castration via Tardek.  However as has been said it is mainly a behavioural issue which needs to be addressed via correct cause and effect training and the dog learning its boundaries and what is and is not acceptable. 

Castration is not a magic wand that cures untrained, unruly dogs.

Castration is a very emotive topic and different individuals have strongly differing opinions. Personally, I don't feel just because it's male, it needs castrating. A lot depends on the dog and his temperament. We have two rescued male lurchers living together quite happily. Something we were told just couldn't work by one rescue centre.  Admittedly, one of them is not castrated and one was by previous owners and prior to us rehoming him. However, of the two, the castrated male is the more dominant and aggressive! The boy with his bits is totally laid back and non-aggressive. So, in my opinion and based on my two dogs, it doesn't necessarily follow that castration is the answer. Another example, is my brother's Border Collie. He was castrated some time ago. He can still be very aggressive towards other dogs.
The vets will tell you it prevents prostate/testicular cancer.  Maybe we've just been lucky, but none of the many dogs we had as children and later in life as an adult, have had this type of cancer. I would want verified facts and figures before castrating for this reason.
It seems your sister has allowed her labrador to become top dog in the house and he's making the most of it. It may therefore be worth taking him to training first before any drastic action is taken. If that fails, then consider the castration.